IF YOU GO

When: April 4-25. Gates open at 11 a.m.; first post at 1:05 p.m. No racing Mondays and Tuesdays or Easter Sunday, April 20.

Where: Keeneland Race Course, 4201 Versailles Rd.

Tickets: $5 general admission

Learn more: (859) 254-3412, 1-800-456-3412, Keeneland.com

SPECIAL EVENTS

Highlights during the meet include:

April 4: Opening day and College Scholarship Day. Admission free with a college ID. Full-time students may register in the College Zone in the North Terrace to win one of 10 $1,000 scholarships and prizes from local vendors after each of the day's races. The first 2,000 students to register will receive a free T-shirt courtesy of Kennedy's Wildcat Den or a Vineyard Vines baseball hat. Music; free snacks from Qdoba, Raising Cane's and Drake's; games and prizes from Orange Leaf.

April 6: Military Day at the Races. Free general admission for all active and inactive members of the military and their families. Free food, live music, children's activities and more on North Terrace. Meet-and-greet with Army Sgt. Dallas Robinson, a member of the 2014 U.S. Olympic bobsled team.

April 9, 16, 23: "Wins-day" Challenge handicapping contest. Register at Wagering Central. $10 entry fee. Guaranteed $2,500 pool. First 200 to register will receive a Daily Racing Form and a card for an appetizer at Malone's.

April 19: Kids Club Easter Egg Hunt. Plus baby chicks, bunnies and other animals from Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. 9 a.m. North Terrace Lawn.

April 23: TVG Hat Giveaway. First 1,000 patrons with paid admission get voucher for a free TVG hat.

April 24: Herald-Leader Subscriber Appreciation Day. Free general admission for all Herald-Leader subscribers with the coupon from the front page of the April 24 edition. Meet Herald-Leader personalities.

Now that warmer weather is making it bearable to spend time outdoors, you can enjoy Keeneland's beautiful setting by packing a Kentucky Proud tailgate to enjoy during a day at the races.

There are hundreds of delicious products, but here are a few suggestions:

Drinks

■ Clearly, the drink of choice for a Keeneland tailgate is Kentucky bourbon. Do with it what you will: drink it straight up, on the rocks, with a splash of ginger ale or make a mint julep. Any way you drink it, you're saluting the commonwealth.

■ Other beverages you might consider are Ale-8-One, which is bottled in Winchester, and wines from one of the state's vineyards.

Appetizers and snacks

Of course, it's not good to drink too much without a little something to eat. Start with one of these:

■ Olivia's beer cheese, made by Olivia Swan and her family. In 2010, Swan and her father, Mike Hurter, entered the amateur competition at the Beer Cheese Festival in Winchester. They won.

They decided to turn their beer cheese into a marketable product, and the line now includes flavors with equine-inspired names. The bourbon and beer cheese is "I'll Have Another," after a Kentucky Derby winner, and the beer and whiskey-flavored spread is "Unbrydled." There's also a special "Wines on Vine" blend.

■ A tray of fresh veggies should also include some Kentucky cheeses from Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese of Austin. Selections include Gouda, Swiss, Colby, Asiago, Kentucky Bleu and Monterey Jack.

■ Fresh, creamy, spreadable chevre from producer Susan Miller, owner of Bleugrass Chevre Farmstead Goat Cheese in Fayette County, would pair nicely with fresh fruit. The cheese is sold in flavors that include garlic-chive, chipotle (smoky with a spicy-hot kick) and cracked black pepper.

Main dishes

Next, the entree.

■ Nothing says Kentucky Proud tailgating like country ham biscuits. You can find the country ham everywhere you turn in Kentucky.

■ As for biscuits, use Weisenberger Mill biscuit mix. Just add water or milk, and you have an authentic Kentucky biscuit made from flour milled in Scott County.

■ On those ham biscuits you can try Weisenberger Mill Wallace Station bourbon mustard by Nancy Ward, owner of Ward's Kentucky Specialties. She co-brands the product with Lexington chef Ouita Michel.

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